Carton



T. K. SMITH March 16, 1954 CARTON 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 14, 1949 T. K. SMITH March 16, 1954 CARTON Filed June 14, 1949 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 vantages as well as others.

Patented Mar. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARTON Thomas K. Smith, Chatham, N. J.

Application June 14, 1949, Serial No. 98,970

Claims.

This invention relates to cartons and more especially to cartons or boxes made from paper board, cardboard or other suitable material and having a multiple layer construction such that the hinged cover of the outer box is adapted to telescope over a locking flap of an inner layer panel to provide locking action.

I have found that while cartons and the like are available with hinged covers and locking flaps all cartons with which I am familiar suffer from serious disadvantages from the standpoint of assembling the cartons from the cutout blanks in which they are provided by the carton manufacturer and also from the standpoint of having disadvantages during use. Thus, with regard to setting the box up from the condition in which it is received into final box form, it has been found that this involves considerable labor, much of it hand labor, thereby adding to the cost of the final product and slowing the setting up operation. Also, where inserts such as premiums, etc. are provided in the box, it has been found necessary to place these inserts in the box by hand.

My novel carton overcomes the above disad- As a result, my box can be made up from blanks in a fully automatic operation; inserts can be placed in my novel carton by means of machines; the smooth surface formed by the cover of my novel carton engaging fiush with the rest of the outer layer of my box eliminates difiiculties ordinarily encountered during wrapping; and my novel carton is substantially sift-proof, that is to say, even fine materials which may be contained therein do not tend to drop out during handling and other use.

With the foregoing in mind my present invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be more fully hereinafter described and which will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout and which form a part hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a cutout blank of one embodiment of my novel carton;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the blank shown in Fig. 1, during a preliminary stage of assem-' bli Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing my novel carton in assembled condition except for the bottom flaps thereof;

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3, showing the carton in fully assembled condition;

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4 part of the cover of the box being broken away in order to show the locking flap of the inner front layer;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of my novel carton with the cover in open position, showing an insert on the top severable flap of the inner layer;

Fig. 7 is a tag which has been torn off the top severable flap .of the inner layer;

Fig. 8 is a section taken along the line 3--8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a cutout blank of another embodiment of my novel carton in which the outer rear flap does not extend completely over the inner rear layer and the other inner layers do not extend all the way down to the bottom of the carton;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing the blank of Fig. 9 in partially assembled condition;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing the blank of Fig. 9 in completely assembled condition;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the blank of Fig. 9 in assembled condition, the hinged cover being shown in open position and the top severable fiap of the inner front layer of my novel carton being shown in partially torn condition;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary view of my novel carton showing the position of the fingers in finger pressing the novel carton along the scoring provided therefor in order to sever the cover of m carton from three sides thereof;

Fig. 14 is a cross section taken along the line l4-|4 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary plan view of a blank similar to Fig. l but having another panel in order to yield a carton having inner layers on all four sides.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular to Fig. 1, my novel carton comprises hinged panels 20, 2!, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 21 hingedly joined to each other in the usual manner by lines 28, 29, 30, 3|, 32, 33 and 34, respectively. Panel 21 is hingedly connected at its top with severable flap 35 which comprises tear-01f sheet 36 and flap 31 joined together but having severance perforations or deep scoring 38 permitting the severance of tear-off sheet 36.

Panel 23 has smaller panels 39 and 49 hingedly connected to the top and bottom edges of panel 23. Weakly scored line 59 is located near the top of panel 23 and permits the tilting back of the cover of my novel carton in assembled condition.

Panel 24 has hingedly attached thereto at its top edge smaller panel 4|. Panel 24 is deeply scored along line 42 with punch holes or the like in order to permit severance of the top portion 43 of the panel from the remainder of panel 24 when my novel carton has been assembled and it is desired to open it. Hingedly connected with panel 24 at the lower edge thereof is panel 44.

Panel 25 has hingedly attached thereto at its top edge smaller panel 45 and its lower edge smaller panel 46. Also, panel 25 is scored along line 41 in a manner similar to the scoring of panel 24 along line 42.

Similarly, panel 26 is connected to top flap 48, bottom flap 49 and is scored along line 50.

Portions 56 and 5! on panels 25 and 26, re.- spectively, correspond to portion 43 on panel 24.

If desired, panel 21 may be made of such size that it does not completely cover the outside of panel 23 when my novel oar-ton has been assembled, and in this case panel 2'! may take the form shown in 9 at 5!. Similarly, instead of panels 22, 25 and 22 being the length shown in Fig. 1 they may be made smaller as shown by panels. 52, 53 and 54, respectively, of Fig. 9.

Also, if it is desired to provide a carton having inner layers on all four sides including the rear side, an additional panel 55 may be providdd adjacent to. panel 24, as shown in Fig. 15.

As shown by Fig. 2 my novel carton shown blank form in Fig. 1 has been partially assembled. Fig. 3 shows the novel carton in an advanced stage of assembly, the bottom only being in open position. At this stagethe folded panels or flaps 4! and 4.8 have been pasted to panel 39 which itself is pasted to panel 45 thereby resulting in a closed top. By pasting panels 44 and 49 to panel 45 and this latter to panel 40 the completely assembled box shown in Fig. 4 is obtained.

Similarly, Figs. and ll how respec iv l he partially and completely a sembl d car obtainable from the cutout blank shown in Fig. 9.

If it is desired to place an insert which to be exposed to vi w up n the penin of the cover of my novel arton as wn. in Fla 6,) such insert may be intro uced durin he ase bline op ration, for ex mpl w n he box ha been ass mbled to the tent h n in Fla 3 just prior to the top s l n p ration It will of course be understood by those iamiliar with the art that the contents to be carried by the box are introduced therein prior to the complete assembly thereof. Thus, when the box, has been assembled to the extent shown in 3 the material to be contained in the carton, such as a vegetable hydrogel, is introduced and the carton then closed by pasting panels 44, .9 and 46 as aforesaid.

If desired, the material may be introduced from the top instead of from the bottom. In such event, bottom flaps 49, 44, 45 and 49 are sealed prior to the filling operation and top flaps 39, 4|, 45 and 48 are sealed after the filling operation.

My novel carton as shown in Figs. 4 and 11 is neat in appearance and is composed of multiple layers, all from a one piece cutout blank, easy to form into the finished container. It will be noted that the outer panels 24, 25 and 26 are flush with the top portions thereof 43, 55 and r spectively, which l t po ions fo m he flanged sides of th over o my n vel arton al r severing as hereinafter indicated.

The sift-proof assembled carton and contents remain so even after the carton has been opened by the user or other persons. In order to open my novel carton all that need be done is to press upon the heavily scored lines 42, 41 and 50 in order to sever portions 43, 56 and 51, respectively, from panels 24, 25 and 26, respectively. After such severance there is formed the hinged cover 58. It will be seen (Fig. 6) that when the cover is opened an insert of suitable explanatory material or other desired matter is open to view. The user may easily remove said insert, which if desired may also be placed between the inner and outer layers of my novel carton. The tearoif portion 36 of flap 35 may then be torn ofi in known manner along scored line 38. This tearofi portion 36 may be thrown away or it may be utilized as a business reply card addressed to the manufacturer of the contents contained in my novel carton, or other person or organization, o for any the su a e pur se remainin part 1 of flo 3.5 may then e ded out: War ly or forwa dly s to fo m a loo s ns iar. as shown in a 5- It is not d. that th ockin f ap r y novel on is integ l. with the. inner front layer of my carton. As a result, my novel carton believed to, be unique in that. it net only contains a o ing lap b pe its. l of he ov b in flus w h th outer t out and si e a el d no t se d th r er as is the case with known cartons which have come to my kn w While my invention has been described in de tail. as to const uc nd ar ng men s of parts it is understood that some modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of my invention. Thus, while I have described my novel carton as being made from paperboard or cardboard, other suitable materials may be employed so long as they have the requisite flex i i ity a d r g dity requir ments. In v ew o he foregoing no limitations are intended other than ose mposed by the scope of t e a nded. claims construed as broadly as permissible view of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A carton having, in combination, front, rear and side oute anel ea u er an ha in a losure nap on its top and ott m a d. a lea t a fron panel, said front and. both id ut r panels b ing sc red bel w the top hereof so, as to provide, with the top closure flaps, a cov r hin d n s id rea e o e when pr s l g th ring nd a lap hine dly nn cted to the top of a f ont nn r anel and adapted to be folded outwardly and down,- wardly, said flap when downwardly folded te -mi? nating above the score line in the outer iront pa l so s f iot nally t e a e the cov r pon ion of said outer front panel to reta n the hin ed cover in closed position.

2- A arton in a cordance with l m 1 having al a ar ofi po tion united with a d. .fiap ut adapted to be separated therefrom. 4

3. A carton in accordance with claim 1 having four inner panels,

4. A carton in accordance with claim 1, said carton being formed from a sin le output blank having eight hingedly connected adjacent panels, the second of said panels having a hingedly conn ted p fi t e eon, sa d op fl p be n deep 1y scored along a line to permit the removal of a port n r said. fl by testing al ng s id lin he u h. fifth. and seven o s id p ne how ing top and bottom hingedly connected flap pore.

tions, and the fifth, sixth and seventh panels being scored near the top of said panels, the first three of said panels being smaller in height than the last five of said panels and the last of said panels being smaller in Width than the other seven of said latter panels.

5. A carton in accordance with claim 3, said carton being formed from a single cutout blank having nine hingedly connected adjacent panels, the third of said panels having an integral, hingedly connected top flap thereon, said top flap being deeply scored along a line to permit the removal of a portion of said flap by tearing along said line, the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth of said panels having top and bottom hingedly connected flap portions, the sixth, seventh and eighth panels being scored near the top of said latter panels.

THOMAS K. SMITH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,116,043 Elliott Nov. 3, 1914 1,943,074 Heyman Jan. 9, 1934 2,134,971 Guyer Nov. 1, 1938 2,361,597 Buttery Oct. 31, 1944 2,361,659 Smith Oct. 31, 1944 2,367,476 Tyrseck Jan. 16, 1945 2,396,310 Yungblut Mar. 12, 1946 

